​‘It’s very interesting this business marketing stuff’, I think…. ’No, it’s not’, I hear you say, ‘It’s goddamn boring’.

You may think that’s a really dull statement, and until I started paying a lot of attention to it, I thought it was terminally dull too.BUT…..!

I am running my business here, and at the moment it doesn’t make me enough money to go on holiday, or buy myself a new car, let alone plan for emergencies, or consider those things that you dream of….SO…!

About 2 months ago, I decided I had to do something about that, as I realised that although I am very good at what I do, (testimonials, confidence built through good outcomes and results, in my teaching as well as designing / making), am a good networker (in the dictionary sense of the word), have a beautiful studio in a fabulous location, am organised, reliable, friendly, polite, easy to deal with, have loads of experience, and have taught myself stacks of technical skills relating to websites and other nefarious IT skills (….breathe!), I just wasn’t making a proper go of the business, and wasn’t earning a sensible amount of money with which to pay my way.

I discovered that in fact business marketing is pretty much all about psychology, and I’m interested in that, as it concerns what makes people tick, why they behave the way they do, and I have always been interested in people, especially those that can do what I can’t do, or behave the way I find hard to behave…if you see what I mean.

All my new found knowledge has not been absorbed in an effort to ‘con’ people to spend money on shit goods, but rather it’s about getting to know people, so that when you need a certain thing, you’ll know where to come, cos I’ll be part of your mental storage systems……’Now, who do I know who knows about film making or lawn mowers or wedding dresses or tweed clothing ????’, you think, and the appropriate person will come to mind, and you’ll be able to find them easily - not on some email or link from about a year ago, or a website url that you can’t quite remember, but on an email that I sent a few days ago. And you’ll know that personal recommendation (or trusting your friend’s opinion) is the best way to buy stuff and services. I do it, and I’m sure you do too.

Well now, unlike my business mentor, (I hope she doesn’t mind me calling her that as it isn’t official, yet!), Vicky Fraser, http://www.businessforsuperheroes.com, I haven’t yet reached her ‘six figure salary in six months’ thing, but I am working towards a ’something anywhere near, would be fantastic’ amount. If I could just do the aforementioned, I’d be very happy….

Currently, things are definitely improving, and I think it’s all down to consistent attention to the business in hand, but you have to keep at it, and take on the right mindset. So please don’t mind me ‘ringing up for a chat’ every now and then, metaphorically speaking. It’ll be an email, and you don’t have to actually speak to me, not right at that moment, and not unless you want to of course! The beauty of emails….

That’s it for now, but I’ll tell you a few anecdotes of my lovely students AND clients, in the next few days in my ‘Getting to Know Me’ series. No names OF COURSE! That would be sacrilege, and we people in ‘personal services’ are un-spokenly sworn to secrecy on such topics….

For 'personal services' of a designing / making kind, (especially if you like out of the ordinary, alternative or experimental stuff), for weddings / heather moors / Academy Award ceremonies / climbing of Everest kind of activities, (that last one is a joke), please consider Atelier by Bobbie Seagroatt.... See the gallery pagefor images of previous projects.And if you are interested in learning pattern cutting or sewing techniques, please look here.